Quality apprenticeships granting a proper qualification and offering pathways to high-skill, well-paid jobs – especially amid a sea of bogus training schemes for young people as they struggle…Read more…
Ongoing struggle
The 10th annual Leeds Pride festival and parade on Sunday (August 7) was supported by 40,000 people including many Unite lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) members and their friends and…Read more…
Keep guards on trains
For many years’ train travel was a no-no for certain groups of disabled people, even when accompanied. Today as the system becomes more accessible, albeit slowly, disabled people are facing the prospect of new barriers replacing those that we had broken down. Gone are the days when the only way for…Read more…
Will digi-banks close branches?
Barely a month passes when Unite is not given notice that a bank is closing more local branches because customers are now increasingly banking online. In July 2016, Move your Money reported…Read more…
Sexual harassment is no laughing matter
For anyone who thinks that sexual harassment has been consigned to the past – a relic of the days of Benny Hill and Carry On films – new research from the TUC on sexual harassment in the workplace…Read more…
Cuts off the table call
Unite has called for urgent talks with energy company Wood Group in order to avert further strike action in the North Sea. Yesterday, (August 8), the union confirmed dates for further strike…Read more…
Unite slams RBS moves
RBS shares experienced their steepest fall in the FTSE 100 late last week after the bank posted a hefty £2bn half-year loss, as it also announced that it would be abandoning its project to spin off…Read more…
Drop the debt
Unite is calling on the Scottish Parliament to back a debt amnesty to help protect cash-starved council services. As part of its Drop the Debt campaign, the union has written to the…Read more…
Peace deal brings hope to trade unionists in Colombia
Colombia is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a trade unionist. It has become a murder capital for trade union activists and continues to feature prominently on the International…Read more…
How the Bank of England has teed-up £40-70 billion of government spending (plus financing?)
While most commentators celebrated last week’s ‘Brexit monetary-bazooka’, they perhaps downplayed how well the Bank has teed-up actions from the Treasury. Between the lines, they are supporting increased government spending over the next two years of £40 to £70bn. Duncan Weldon hit the nail on the…Read more…
Southern Rail, ScotRail and red herrings
It’s often said that it takes two sides to make a dispute; it certainly takes two sides to end one. Last week during talks at ACAS, the RMT offered to suspend strike action at Southern Rail if the…Read more…
‘Phenomenal’ public support
Bus drivers in Weymouth and Bridport have been buoyed up by ‘phenomenal’ public support in their two-month industrial action against ‘poverty pay’. Unite also branded the claims of First…Read more…
‘Missed opportunity’
When Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley was hauled before MPs in June to answer questions about “Victorian” work practices within his company, Ashley said, “I would have no problem with an independent…Read more…
The Today Programme’s dodgy rail strike maths
This morning’s Today programme covered the industrial dispute at Southern Rail. Justin Webb talked live to his correspondent Ben Thompson at Victoria station (Listen at 47:38), who expressed…Read more…
Changes to company records would be bad for workers
Companies House is proposing a significant change to how long information on companies is kept that could have a major impact on the ability of workers to get compensation for diseases that appear…Read more…
5 ways to combat racism in the workplace
Due to the rise of racism since the EU referendum results, the TUC is calling on the government to take real and immediate action to make our communities safer and more respectful for everyone….Read more…
Two tribes is not the way to reconnect with abandoned Britain
The EU referendum result was a close one – 52% to 48% suggests a country deeply divided, and there are clearly good reasons for being concerned about that. But the polling the TUC commissioned…Read more…
Rio Olympics – workers pay a high price for poor planning
Rio 2016 is no Qatar, but a succession of mistakes and willingness to risk workers’ lives to compensate for bad planning has tarnished Brazil’s Olympic moment. If London 2012 is anything to go by, the excitement of the Olympics will really catch alight once the opening ceremony is properly underway…Read more…
‘Attack on poorest’
The devastated father of a teenage boy who was killed in a head-on collision has spoken out after being cruelly charged the bedroom tax on his dead son’s room. Grieving Terry Fannon, from…Read more…
‘Our service saves lives’
Counsellors, support workers and staff at a charity that helps victims of sexual abuse and rape in Northern Ireland are organising with Unite to keep the vital service open, as the impact of…Read more…